System to provide price adjustments based on indicated product interest

ABSTRACT

A system to provide price adjustments based on indicated product interest includes reception of an indication from a customer of interest in a first product, reception of an indication from a customer of interest in a second product, determination of a price adjustment for the second product based on the indication of interest in the first product, and transmission of the price adjustment to the customer. By virtue of the foregoing features, a retailer may be willing to provide a price adjustment for the second product which would otherwise not be provided. Moreover, such a price adjustment may incent the customer to purchase the second product in a case that the second product would not otherwise be purchased, thereby potentially increasing a total profit received by the retailer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, and is acontinuation of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/909,055, filed Jun.3, 2013 titled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING PRICES ASSOCIATEDWITH PRODUCTS” which issues as U.S. Pat. No. 8,781,894 on Jul. 15, 2014,and which itself is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/606,364, filed Jun. 29, 2000 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,473,341 onJun. 3, 2013, which itself claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/204,519, filed May 16, 2000 the contents of eachapplication hereby being incorporated by reference herein for allpurposes.

This application is also related to (i) U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/085,424, filed May 27, 1998 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,105 onOct. 24, 2000, titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC ASSEMBLY OFPACKAGES IN RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS”, and (ii) U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/360,422, filed Jul. 23, 1999 and issued as U.S. Pat. No.7,899,710 on Mar. 1, 2011, titled “DETERMINATION AND PRESENTATION OFPACKAGE PRICING OFFERS IN RESPONSE TO CUSTOMER INTEREST IN A PRODUCT”,the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems for selling products tocustomers. More specifically, the present invention concerns a system todetermine, transmit and provide a price adjustment for a product basedon expressed interest in other products.

Competition for customers in retail markets is fierce. As a result,retailers are constantly evaluating and executing various methodsdesigned to attract customers. According to one method, a retaileroperating a retail store discounts prices on some products in order toencourage customers to visit the retail store and to purchase otherproducts for non-discounted prices.

An ability of a retailer to attract customers with a discounted price istypically related to a size of a discount reflected in the discountedprice. However, selling a product for a price reflecting a largediscount often results in a net loss for the retailer, since thediscounted price is often less than a cost of the product to theretailer. Therefore, large discounts on prices of products may not provebeneficial to retailers unless customers who purchase the products alsopurchase other products for non-discounted prices. Since retailers arenot assured that other products will be purchased along with thediscounted products, retailers are hesitant to provide large discounts.Consequently, traditional discounting is limited in its ability toattract customers.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,612,868 and 5,173,851 to Off et al. describe systems inwhich a coupon for a first product is provided to a customer uponpurchase of a second product. The first product is selected based on astored relationship indicating that a customer purchasing the secondproduct may also desire the first product. Several factors reduce theattractiveness of these systems to customers. For example, a customerwho has selected products to purchase and has approached a checkout areawith the selected products will often be reluctant to add a product tothe selected products. Also, potential customers possess highly variedtastes and needs. Therefore, it is unlikely that many customers willdesire a first product which is selected based simply on a storedrelationship with a second product.

Each of the related U.S. patent applications listed above describessystems designed to address the foregoing problems. For example, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/085,424 describes a system in which, inone embodiment, “packages” of several products are created based onfactors such as whether the products are complementary, inventorylevels, relative product margins, revenue management principles, or thelike. Using the same or additional factors, the system determines apackage price for which to offer the several products comprising thepackage. Typically, the package price is less than the sum of the retailprices of each of the several products.

According to one embodiment of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/360,422, an indication of interest in a primary product is receivedfrom a customer, and a secondary product is identified based on theprimary product and factors such as purchasing history of the customer,previous interest indicated by the customer, stored associations ofcomplementary products, retail profit margins of the primary product andthe secondary product, or the like. Finally, the primary product and thesecondary product are offered to the customer for a package price whichis less than a sum of the retail prices of the primary product and thesecondary product.

Since the systems of the foregoing U.S. patent applications allow aretailer to offset a loss in profit margin from a sale of one productwith a gain in profit margin from a sale of another product, a retaileris more willing to deeply discount a retail price of one of the offeredproducts. As a result, an ability of the retailer to attract customersis greater than that offered by conventional discounting techniques.

However, the above-described systems fail to attract certain customersto a retail store regardless of the size of an offered discount becausethese customers are simply not interested in the second product. Sincethese customers will not experience any discount, these customers arenot encouraged to visit the retail store. Accordingly, what is needed isa system for discounting prices which does not erode profit margins tothe extent of conventional discounting systems and which is moreattractive to customers than other contemplated systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the foregoing by, in one aspect,including reception of an indication from a customer of interest in afirst product, reception of an indication of interest in a secondproduct, determination of a price adjustment for the second productbased on the indication of interest in the first product, andtransmission of the price adjustment to the customer. By virtue of theforegoing features, a customer is presented with an opportunity toreceive a price adjustment for a product in which he is interested.Therefore, the customer may be incented to purchase the second productin a case where he would not otherwise purchase the second product.Moreover, the retailer is willing to provide a price adjustment for thesecond product which would otherwise not be provided because of theindicated interest in the first product, which suggests that theretailer may receive a profit from a sale of the first product.

In an additional aspect, also transmitted with the price adjustment isan indication that the customer will be charged a price for the secondproduct according to the price adjustment only if the first product ispurchased. Such a feature provides extra incentive for the customer topurchase both the first product and the second product. Since theretailer is assured that the price adjustment will be applied only ifthe first product is purchased (and the retail profit margin of thefirst product is received), the retailer may be more willing to transmita price adjustment reflecting a significant discount in the sale priceof the second product.

An additional aspect of the invention includes a determination ofwhether the customer is purchasing the first product, a sale of thesecond product to the customer for a sale price based on the priceadjustment if it is determined that the customer is purchasing the firstproduct, and a sale of the second product to the customer for a retailprice if it is determined that the customer is not purchasing the firstproduct. This aspect provides further features for assuring the retailerthat the customer will be charged in accordance with the priceadjustment for the second product only if the first product ispurchased, and thereby also assuring the retailer that the retail profitmargin of the second product will not be sacrificed without receivingsome benefit in return.

Other aspects further increase the attractiveness of the priceadjustment by including transmission of a retail price of the secondproduct along with the price adjustment. As a result, a customer is ableto determine easily an extent of a discount reflected in the priceadjustment.

In further aspects, the price adjustment is determined based on revenuemanagement information related to the first product and to the secondproduct in order to ensure that a profit obtained through a sale of thefirst product and the second product for a price reflecting the priceadjustment is acceptable to the retailer. In some cases, such a profitis greater than that obtainable through a sale of the first productalone.

In another aspect, the present invention includes indication of aninterest in a product and reception of a price adjustment for theproduct, wherein the price adjustment is determined based on theinterest in a first product and is different from another priceadjustment for the product received in a case that no interest in thefirst product is indicated. According to yet another aspect, the presentinvention includes indication of an interest in a product, and receptionof a price adjustment for the product, wherein the price adjustment is afirst price adjustment if the customer has previously indicated aninterest in a first product and is a second price adjustment if thecustomer has not previously indicated an interest in the first product.By virtue of each of the previous two aspects, price adjustments for aproduct may be varied depending upon a customer's expressed interest inother products.

In further aspects, the present invention concerns identification of aproduct to be purchased by a customer, determination of whether theproduct is associated with a price adjustment transmitted to thecustomer and determined based on an indication of interest from thecustomer in a first product, and determination of whether the firstproduct is being (or has been) purchased by the customer, and, if it isdetermined that the first product is being (or has been) purchased bythe customer, charging the customer a price for the product based on theprice adjustment. The foregoing features allow a retailer to offersignificant price adjustments to attract customers, since the priceadjustment is provided only if a purchase of the first product isassured. Purchase of the first product may be desired by the retailer toensure reception of a retail profit margin of the first product, toensure disposal of excess inventory of the first product, or for otherreasons.

According to another aspect, the invention relates to an apparatusincluding means for obtaining an indication from a customer of interestin a first product, means for obtaining an indication from the customerof interest in a second product, means for producing a price adjustmentfor the second product based on the indication of interest in the firstproduct, and means for transmitting the price adjustment to thecustomer.

With these and other advantages and features of the invention that willbecome hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be moreclearly understood by reference to the following detailed description,the appended claims, and to the several drawings attached hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a system according to one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of a system according to one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a retailer controller according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a customer device according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a point-of-sale (POS) terminal according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of a customerdatabase according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of a productdatabase according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of atransaction database according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of process steps to transmit a price adjustmentaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of process steps to determine a price adjustmentaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of process steps to receive a price adjustmentaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a view for illustrating an indication of interest in aproduct according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a view for illustrating an indication of interest in aproduct according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a view for illustrating reception of a price adjustmentaccording to one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of process steps to sell products in accordancewith price adjustments according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To insure clarity of the following description, set forth below aredefinitions of several terms used herein. The scope of the presentinvention is not to be deemed limited by the definitions.

Price Adjustment: A value used to determine a sale price of at least oneproduct. Types of price adjustments include prices ($100.00), pricediscount values ($10 off a retail price), and percentage discount values(10% off a retail price). It should be noted that price discount valuesand percentage discount values may be defined in terms of prices otherthan a retail price.

Product: A good or service. The term product may also be used herein torefer to one or more related or unrelated goods and/or services.

Retailer: An entity which sells products to customers. Such entitiesinclude proprietors of traditional retail stores, proprietors of onlineretail stores, product manufacturers, product warehousers,telemarketers, mail-order services, and online storefront providers.

Retail Price: A price for which a product is sold to customers absent aprice adjustment.

Retail Profit Margin: A profit received by a retailer through sale of aproduct for a retail price. A retail profit margin may be calculated bysubtracting a product's cost from the product's retail price.

Retail Store: Generally, a location at which products are offered forsale by a retailer. Traditionally, a retail store is a physical buildingin which a retailer offers and sells products to customers. Retailstores also include websites in which descriptions and visualrepresentations of products for sale may be viewed by customers andthrough which the customers may purchase one or more of the products forsale.

Sale Price: A price which a customer pays in exchange for a product.Sale prices include retail prices and prices adjusted according to priceadjustments.

As a brief introduction to the following detailed description, onespecific embodiment of the present invention is now described. Accordingto this embodiment, a customer executes a web browser on a personalcomputer and enters into the web browser a uniform resource locator(URL) corresponding to a website operated by a product retailer. The URLis sent over the World Wide Web to an appropriate web server located ina retailer controller and, in response, the web server delivers a webpage to the web browser, which displays the web page on the personalcomputer. The customer then navigates through various web pages of thewebsite using the web browser in order to shop for products.

In this embodiment, one web page contains a list of hyperlinks, witheach hyperlink being associated with a particular product. Accordingly,upon selecting one of the hyperlinks, the web browser receives anddisplays a web page containing a view, a description, and a retail priceof an associated first product. The customer indicates an interest inthe first product by selecting an “add to cart” icon displayed on theweb page. As a result, the retailer controller records that the customerhas indicated an interest in the first product. Next, the customerselects a hyperlink associated with a second product.

Based on the indicated interest in the first product, the retailercontroller determines a price adjustment for the second product. In thisexample, the price adjustment is a discounted price which is less than aretail price for which the second product would be sold absent theindicated interest in the first product. A web page corresponding to thesecond product is then transmitted to the web browser, the web pageincluding the price adjustment and a view, a description, and the retailprice of the second product. The web page also specifies to the customerthat the second product will be sold in accordance with the priceadjustment only if the customer also purchases the first product.

The customer continues adding products to his “cart” in order todesignate those products for purchase. The customer then selects adisplayed “checkout” icon to indicate a desire to purchase the productscurrently in the cart. In response, the customer is charged according toprice adjustments for those products in the cart which are associatedwith price adjustments and for which required products are also beingpurchased, and is charged a retail price for all other products in thecart. For example, the customer is charged for the second productaccording to the price adjustment if the first product is beingpurchased, and is otherwise charged the retail price for the secondproduct.

It should be noted that the foregoing merely describes one particularembodiment of the invention, and that the invention should not be deemedlimited to the particular aspects mentioned above.

FIG. 1A shows a block diagram of a system 10 according to embodiments ofthe present invention. As shown, the system 10 includes a retailercontroller 100 in communication with customer devices 200, 201 and 202.The retailer controller 100 may comprise one or more computer serversproviding, for example, a database server and a World Wide Web server.In one embodiment, the World Wide Web server operates to receiverequests for web pages from the customer devices 200, 201 and 202, tocreate web pages, and to transmit the web pages to the customer devices200, 201 and 202. In this regard, the retailer controller 100 maydetermine price adjustments, transmit the price adjustments via theWorld Wide Web to a customer operating one of the customer devices 200,201 and 202, and may also extract payment from the customer inaccordance with the price adjustments.

Each of the elements of the system 10 may be located in a retail store.For example, the retailer controller 100 may be a computer serverlocated in a control center within the retail store, and the customerdevices 200, 201 and 202 may be customer kiosks situated at variouslocations within the retail store. However, the elements of the system10 need not be located at a retail store or in a same location. Rather,the system 10 may be used in an online embodiment wherein at least oneof the customer devices 200, 201 and 202 is located remotely from theretailer controller 100. It should be noted that the system 10 maysimultaneously provide remote and in-store functionality.

Multiple physical devices may be used to perform the functions of theretailer controller 100 according to the present invention, and some orall of these functions may also be performed manually. The retailercontroller 100 may be operated by a retailer, by an entity providingcustomer acquisitions services to retailers, by an entity providingshopping and retail services to customers, by an entity providing onlinestore fronts to retailers or by any other entity to which the presentinvention may provide benefits. In the following description, actionswhich may be performed by an entity operating the retailer controller100, such as reception of payment, will be imputed to the retailercontroller 100.

As described above, at least one of the customer devices 200, 201 and202 may be a dedicated kiosk operated within a retail store tocommunicate with the retailer controller 100, which may or may not belocated in the retail store. One or more of the customer devices 200,201 and 202 may also comprise a personal computer operated by a customerto access and interact with a website provided by a web server executingwithin the retailer controller 100. Other types of customer devices 200,201 and 202 usable in conjunction with the present invention include apersonal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet kiosk, a hand-held barcode scanner, a pager, a cellular phone, a pay phone, a video game, anautomated teller machine, a slot machine, a watch, a vending machine, anin-car communications system, such as the NAVSTAR system, for providingWorld Wide Web data or the like, or any other device adapted tocommunicate with the retailer controller 100 over whatever communicationmedia exist between the device and the controller 100. For example, in acase that the customer device 200 is a PDA, such as a Palm VII™, whichcommunicates with the retailer controller 100 over the World Wide Web,the customer device 200 may execute a web browser application forpassing data to the retailer controller 100 and/or requesting data fromthe retailer controller 100.

In another example, the customer device 200 comprises both a retailerterminal (not shown) located at a retail store and a device such as aPDA used to communicate with the retailer terminal via an infrared orother connection. Such a retailer terminal may be associated with asingle product or a group of products. This association allows theretailer controller 100 to identify a product or group of productsrelating to a received communication by reference to the retailerterminal from which the communication was received.

FIG. 1B illustrates a block diagram of a system 20 according to otherembodiments of the present invention. The system 20 includes a retailercontroller in communication with the customer devices 200, 201 and 202as described with respect to the system 10. However, the system 20 alsoincludes POS terminals 300, 301 and 302 in communication with theretailer controller 100. The system 20 may be used to embody theinvention within a retail store. For example, the retailer controller100 may be a computer server located in a control center within theretail store, the customer devices 200, 201 and 202 may be customerkiosks situated at various locations within the retail store, and thePOS terminals 300, 301 and 302 may be cash registers located at a“checkout” area in the store. Of course, it is not required that any ofthe elements of the system 20 actually be located in a retail store.

One or more of the POS terminals 300, 301 and 302 may comprise anelectronic cash register, computer terminal, or other type of POSterminal. In one embodiment, each of the POS terminals 300, 301 and 302is located at a single retail store and is used to determine prices forproducts brought to the terminal and to charge a customer for each ofthe products. The POS terminals 300, 301 and 302 may also comprisededicated terminals used solely in conjunction with the retailercontroller 100 to determine price adjustments according to the presentinvention, or credit/debit card authorization terminals provided withsoftware enabling operation in accordance with the present invention. Inother embodiments, the retailer controller 100 controls thedetermination and transmission of price adjustments for severalretailers, and each of the POS terminals 300, 301 and 302 is located ata different retail store along with one of the customer devices 200, 201and 202.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the customer device 202 may communicate directlywith the POS terminal 302. Such communication may occur via an infraredor other interface, and may be used to transmit a customer identifier, apayment identifier, a transaction identifier, and/or price adjustmentinformation stored in the customer device 202 to the POS terminal 302.

Although three customer devices are shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B andthree POS terminals are also shown in FIG. 1B, any number of customerdevices and POS terminals may be in communication with the retailercontroller 100 according to either embodiment of the invention.Furthermore, although the communication media between the customerdevices 200, 201 and 202, the POS terminals 300, 301 and 302 and theretailer controller 100 are represented by dedicated connections, itshould be understood that one or more of the customer devices 200, 201and 202 and, in the case of the system 20, of the POS terminals 300, 301and 302, may be connected to a network, such as a Local Area Network(LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), to which is also connected theretailer controller 100. The network may be an Internet Protocol(IP)-based network, such as the World Wide Web, and/or one or more of asatellite-based network, a cellular network, a radio frequency (RF)network, a telephone network, a cable television network, or any othercommunication system for transferring data between locations.

It should also be understood that the invention may be embodied inhardware configurations other than those shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B.For example, the invention may be embodied entirely in a customer deviceprovided to customers by a retailer upon entry into a retail store. Inother embodiments, indications of interest are received and priceadjustments are determined by a customer device or a POS terminal, andthe POS terminal is used to charge a customer appropriate retail pricesand prices based on price adjustments.

Those skilled in the art will understand that devices in communicationwith each other need not be continually transmitting to each other. Onthe contrary, such devices need only to transmit to each other asnecessary, and may actually refrain from exchanging data most of thetime. For example, a device in communication with another device overthe World Wide Web may not transmit data to the other for weeks at atime.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the retailer controller 100. Theretailer controller 100 may be implemented using a network server, adedicated hardware circuit, an appropriately-programmed general purposecomputer, or any other electronic, mechanical or electro-mechanicaldevice.

The retailer controller 100 of FIG. 2 comprises a processor 210, such asone or more RISC® processors. The processor 110 is coupled to acommunication port 120 through which the retailer controller 100communicates with other devices. For example, the retailer controller100 receives an indication of interest in a first product from thecustomer device 200 and transmits a price adjustment for a secondproduct to the customer device 200 through the communication port 120.As mentioned above, each of the customer devices 100, 101 and 102, aswell as the POS terminals 300, 301 and 302, may communicate with theretailer controller 100 over different communication media. Accordingly,the communication port 120 is configured, in one embodiment, tocommunicate using hardware and software protocols of the differentmedia. In addition, the retailer controller 100 can communicate withlocally-attached devices through the communication port 120.

Also connected to the processor 110 are an input device 130, a display140 and a printer 150. The input device 130 may be any device forinputting data, such as a keyboard, a touch screen, a mouse, a voiceinput device, an infrared port, or the like. The input device 130 can beused by personnel to enter data used by the retailer controller 100 inaccordance with the present invention, and can be used by an employee ora customer to input an indication of interest in a product to theretailer controller 100.

The display 120 is used to output graphics and text and may be a CRTcomputer monitor, a flat panel display or another type of displaydevice. Graphics, text or other data may also be output by the printer150 in hardcopy format.

The processor 110 is also in communication with a data storage device160. The data storage device 160 is generally a data memory and mayinclude any appropriate combination of magnetic, optical and/orsemiconductor memory. The data storage device 160 may also include, forexample, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), a compactdisc and/or a hard disk. Furthermore, the processor 110 and the storagedevice 160 may each be, for example: (i) located entirely within asingle computer or other computing device; or (ii) connected to eachother by remote communication media such as a serial port cable,telephone line or radio frequency transceiver. In one embodiment, theretailer controller 100 comprises one or more computers that areconnected to a remote server computer for maintaining databases.

The data storage device 160 stores a program 400 of processor-executableprocess steps. The program 400 may be stored in a compressed, uncompiledand/or encrypted format. The program 400 can be stored in the storagedevice 160 during manufacture of the storage device 160, can bedownloaded from a compact disc or other computer-readable medium, or canbe retrieved from a remote or local source through the communicationport 120 in the form of a signal having the program 400 encoded thereon.

The processor 110 executes the process steps of the program 400 andthereby operates in accordance with the present invention, andparticularly in accordance with the steps described herein with respectto the retailer controller 100. In one example, the process steps of theprogram 400 are executed to receive an indication from a customer ofinterest in a first product, to receive an indication from a customer ofinterest in a second product, to determine a price adjustment for thesecond product based on the indication of interest in the first product,and to transmit the price adjustment to the customer.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the steps of theprogram 400 are transferred from the data storage device 160 into a mainmemory, such as a RAM, and executed therefrom by the processor 110. Inalternate embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of, orin combination with, processor-executable software process steps forimplementation of the processes of the present invention. Thus,embodiments of the present invention are not limited to any specificcombination of hardware or software.

The data storage device 160 also stores processor-executable processsteps for basic operation of the retailer controller 100, such asprocess steps of an operating system, a Web server, a databasemanagement system and “device drivers” for allowing the retailercontroller 100 to interface with computer peripheral devices. Theselatter process steps are known to those skilled in the art, and aretherefore not described in detail herein.

The storage device 160 also stores i) a customer database 500, ii) aproduct database 600, and iii) a transaction database 700. The databases500 to 700 are described in detail below and portions thereof aredepicted in tabular form with sample entries in the accompanyingfigures. In this regard, and as will be understood by those skilled inthe art, the schematic illustrations and accompanying descriptions ofthe databases presented herein are merely intended to demonstrateoperable systems for associating and storing information which may beused in accordance with the present invention. A number of other datastructures may be employed besides those suggested by the tables shown.Similarly, the illustrated entries of the databases represent sampleinformation only; those skilled in the art will understand that thenumber and content of the entries can be different from thoseillustrated.

FIG. 3 illustrates several elements of the customer device 200. Thecustomer device 200 is used in one embodiment to input data to and toreceive data from the retailer controller 100, and to present data to acustomer. For example, a customer may use the customer device 200 toindicate an interest in a first product, to indicate an interest in asecond product, and to receive a price adjustment for the secondproduct, the price adjustment being determined based on the interest inthe first product and being different from another price adjustment forthe second product received in a case that no interest in the firstproduct is indicated.

As shown, the customer device 200 includes a processor 210 connected toa communication port 220. The communication port 220 is configured totransmit data to the retailer controller 100 via a network connection,such as the World Wide Web, via an intermediate device, such as theabove-described retailer terminal, via dedicated connection, or viaanother connection, and to receive data from the retailer controller100. Also connected to the processor 210 are an input device 230 forreceiving data and instructions from a customer, a display 240 fordisplaying data to the customer, and a printer 250 for creating ahardcopy of data, such as of a confirmation of a price adjustment andterms thereof. The input device 230, the display 240 and the printer 250may comprise any of the input devices, displays, or printers discussedabove.

A storage device 260 is also connected to the processor 210, and storesdata and processor-executable process steps for the operation of thecustomer device 200. Specifically, the storage device 260 stores processsteps of a program 261 which may be executed to control the customerdevice 200 to operate as described herein. The process steps of theprogram 261 may be stored in the storage device 260 during itsmanufacture, may be downloaded from a compact disc or othercomputer-readable medium, or may be retrieved from a remote or localsource through the communication port 220 embodied in a signal havingthe process steps encoded thereon.

Also stored in the storage device 260 are processor-executable processsteps of a web browser 262 which can be executed by the processor 210 toprovide communication between the customer device 200 and a Web serverexecuting within the retailer controller 100 via the World Wide Web. Ofcourse, depending on the communication media disposed between thecustomer device 200 and the retailer controller 100, other knownapplications or hardware may be needed for the customer device 200 tocommunicate with the retailer controller 100. Process steps of anoperating system (not shown), such as the Palm® operating system, arealso stored in the storage device 260 and executed by the processor 210to control basic operation of the customer device 200.

In some embodiments, the invention is embodied solely in the customerdevice 200, which may be given to customers upon entering a retailstore. In these embodiments, the program 261 includes process stepsexecuted by the processor 210 to receive an indication from a customerof interest in a first product, to receive an indication of interest ina second product, to determine a price adjustment for the second productbased on the indication of interest in the first product, and totransmit the price adjustment to the customer. The program 261 alsoincludes, according to these embodiments, process steps executable toidentify a product to be purchased by a customer, to determine whetherthe product is associated with a price adjustment transmitted to thecustomer and determined based on an indication of interest from thecustomer in a first product, and to determine whether the first productis being (or has been) purchased by the customer, and, if it isdetermined that the first product is being (or has been) purchased bythe customer, to charge the customer a price for the product based onthe price adjustment. The databases 500 to 700 are also stored in thestorage device 260 according to some of these embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing several components of the POS terminal300 according to one embodiment of the invention. According to oneversion of this embodiment, the POS terminal 300 receives a customeridentifier from a customer who has brought products to the POS terminal300 for the purpose of purchasing the products. The POS terminal 300also identifies a product to be purchased by a customer, uses thecustomer identifier to determine whether the product is associated witha price adjustment transmitted to the customer and determined based onan indication of interest from the customer in a first product,determines whether the first product is being (or has been) purchased bythe customer, and charges the customer in accordance with the priceadjustment if it is determined that the first product is being (or hasbeen) purchased by the customer. Details and variations of the foregoingprocess are set forth below.

The POS terminal 300 of FIG. 4 includes a processor 310 for executingprocessor-executable process steps and a communication port 320connected thereto for communicating with the retailer controller 100over a network or a dedicated connection. The communication port 320 mayalso be used to communicate directly with the customer devices 200, 201and 202, or with other devices. Of course, in the latter embodiment, thecommunication port 320 is configured to provide communication interfacescompatible with the customer devices 200, 201 and 202 and the otherdevices.

Also connected to the processor 310 are a bar code scanner 330 forscanning a product bar code, usually located on product packaging, andfor extracting a product identifier, such as a Universal Product Code(UPC), a Store Keeping Unit number, or a product identifier internal tothe retailer therefrom. Many types of such scanners are known in theart, including a hand-held scanner and a fixed scanner across which abar code is swiped.

An employee input device 340 is also connected to the processor 310. Theemployee input device 340 allows an employee to manually enter a productidentifier into the POS terminal 300, and also provides cash registerfunctionality. Accordingly, the employee input device 340 comprises anumeric keypad, function keys for invoking convenient functions, and maybe embodied in a keyboard, a voice recognition unit, a touch screen, orother input system.

A display 350 is connected to the processor 310 and is used primarily todisplay prices to the employee and to the customer. In one embodiment, aprice to be charged to the customer is displayed on the display 350 eachtime a bar code is scanned by the bar code scanner 330. After alldesired products have been scanned, the display 350 displays a totalprice due to the retailer. The display 350 may comprise a CRT display, aflat panel display, an LCD display, an LED display, or the like. Aprinter 360 is primarily used to print receipts and/or coupons forpresentation to a customer, and may comprise a thermal printer, a laserprinter, an inkjet printer, or other type of printer.

Also connected to the processor 310 is a customer input/output device370, which is used by a customer to enter a customer identifier andpayment information into the POS terminal 300. For example, the customerinput/output device 370 may present a request to the customer to swipeher frequent buyer card or other retailer-affiliated card through amagnetic card reader of the customer input/output device 370. After thecustomer swipes her card and a customer identifier is read therefrom,the customer input/output device 370 may request the customer to swipe acredit or debit card through the card reader so as to provide an accountto which the total price may be charged. Accordingly, the customerinput/output device 370 may comprise a credit or debit cardauthorization terminal.

In other embodiments, the customer input/output device 370 is aninterface port through which the customer device 202, such as a PDA, maycommunicate with the POS terminal 302. As such, the customer identifierand/or the account identifier may be directly transmitted from thecustomer device 202 to the POS terminal 302. The customer input/outputdevice 370 according to this embodiment may also be used to receiveprice adjustment information, discussed in detail below, directly fromthe customer device 202.

A storage device 380 is connected to the processor 310, and storesprocessor-executable process steps of a POS program 381 which areexecuted by the processor 310 so as to allow the POS terminal 300 tooperate in accordance with the present invention. As described abovewith respect to the storage device 260 and the storage device 160, theprocess steps of the POS program 381 may be stored in the storage device380 during manufacture of the storage device 380, may be downloaded froma compact disc or other computer-readable medium, or can be retrievedfrom a remote or local source through the communication port 320 in theform of a signal having the process steps encoded thereon.

FIG. 5 illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of the customerdatabase 500 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Thecustomer database 500 is used to store general information about acustomer which may be used by a system according to the presentinvention. The information stored in the customer database 500 may beobtained by requiring a customer to submit a written registration formrequesting certain customer information or by requiring the customer tocomplete fields of a registration web page transmitted to a customerdevice via the World Wide Web. In a case that the information isobtained through a written registration form, the information may beentered into the customer database 500 by an employee operating theinput device 130 of the retailer controller 100. The information mayalso be stored in the storage device 260 of the customer device 200 andtransmitted therefrom to the retailer controller 100.

Each record shown in the illustrated portion of the customer database500 includes several fields, the fields specifying: i) a customeridentifier 510 preferably used throughout the databases of the datastorage device 160 to associate data with an associated customer; ii) aname 520 of the associated customer; iii) contact information 530 foruse in contacting the associated customer; iv) a payment identifier 540usable to extract payment from the associated customer; and v) acustomer rating 550. It should be noted that the invention may beembodied in a system which does not use any of the informationillustrated in the customer database of FIG. 5.

The contact information 530, as shown, may include any type ofinformation by which a retailer may contact a customer, such as a postaladdress, an electronic mail address, a telephone number, a facsimilenumber or the like. The payment identifier 540 may specify a credit cardnumber, a checking account number, an online bill payment service orother information using which the retailer may extract a payment from acustomer.

The customer rating 550, in one embodiment, is based on an associatedcustomer's purchasing history. For example, a customer having purchaseditems resulting in over $500 profit for a retailer in a past year isassigned a Gold customer rating 550, while a customer having purchaseditems resulting in less than $50 in profit is assigned a Bronze customerrating 550. A customer may also pay a fee in order to be associated witha particular customer rating. In one embodiment, the customer rating 550is used to determine a price adjustment to provide to a customer. Inthis embodiment, after receiving an indication from a customer ofinterest in a first product, the retailer controller 100 determines aprice adjustment for a second product based on the indication and basedon a customer rating 550 associated with the customer. For example, theprice adjustment reflects a lower sale price if the customer isassociated with a Gold customer rating 550 than if the customer isassociated with a Bronze customer rating 550. In other embodiments, onlycustomers having a certain rating are eligible to receive priceadjustments according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a tabular representation of a portion of the productdatabase 600. The product database contains information relating toproducts sold by a retailer operating the retailer controller 100. Theinformation may be used to determine a second product for which toprovide a price adjustment, and/or to determine a price adjustment for asecond product based on an indication of interest in a first product.The fields of the product database 600 specify: i) a product identifier610 uniquely identifying a product offered for sale by the retailer; ii)a product description 620 describing the product; iii) a retail price630 of the product; iv) a cost 640 of the product to the retailer; v) anamount in inventory 650; and vi) a minimum sale price 660.

The retail price 630 is, in one embodiment, a price for which anassociated product is offered for sale and sold to a customer absent anyprice adjustment according to the invention. Of course, a retail price630 may reflect a price discount other than a price adjustment accordingto the invention. For example, a retail price 630 associated with aproduct may be decreased by 10% in a case that the retailer wishes toprovide at least a 10% discount to any customer purchasing the product.

The cost 640 may include a price for which the retailer purchases theassociated product from a manufacturer, a cost for warehousing theproduct, other inventory costs, and overhead such as rent and utilitiesattributable or charged to the product. The amount in inventory 650 maybe used as an estimate of demand for an associated product. For example,the retailer controller may offer a significant price adjustment for aproduct associated with a large amount in inventory 650. It should benoted that revenue management information other than a cost 640 and anamount in inventory 650 may be stored in the product database 600 andused to determine a price adjustment for a product. Revenue managementinformation may include information relating to demand, supply, volume,profit margins, forecasted inventory, or other variables such as thosespecified in the book, “Revenue Management—Hardcore Tactics for MarketDomination”, by Robert G. Gross.

The minimum sale price 660 may be a price set by a product manufacturerin order to control price dilution. In this regard, productmanufacturers often expend great effort in developing a pricingstructure intended to maximize sales of each product in a product line.Reducing a retail price of such a product may compromise the integrityof the pricing structure. Accordingly, these manufacturers may set aminimum sale price 660 to preserve the integrity of the pricingstructure. In one embodiment, the minimum sale price 660 is compared toa price adjustment determined for a product to ensure that the priceadjustment does not reflect a sale price of less than the minimum saleprice 660.

A tabular representation of a portion of the transaction database 700 isshown in FIG. 7. Generally, the transaction database 700 may be used bythe retailer controller 100, the customer device 200, and/or the POSterminal 300 to determine appropriate sale prices to charge a customerfor products represented therein. In one embodiment, the transactiondatabase is used to identify a product to be purchased by a customer, todetermine whether the product is associated with a price adjustmenttransmitted to the customer and determined based on an indication ofinterest from the customer in a first product, to determine whether thefirst product is being (or has been) purchased by the customer, and tocharge the customer according to the price adjustment if it isdetermined that the first product is being (or has been) purchased bythe customer.

The fields of the transaction database 700 include: i) a transactionidentifier 710 identifying a single sales transaction involving one ormore products; ii) a customer identifier 720 uniquely identifying acustomer participating in the sales transaction; iii) a productidentifier 730 identifying a product involved in the sales transaction;iv) a retail price 740 of the product; v) a price adjustment 750 for theproduct; and vi) required product(s) 760 in which an interest must beshown, in one embodiment, or which must be purchased, according toanother embodiment, in order for a customer to receive the associatedprice adjustment 750.

As shown in FIG. 7, a single product identifier 730 may be associatedwith several price adjustments 750, with each of the several priceadjustments associated with respective required product(s) 760. As alsoshown in FIG. 7, more than one required product(s) 760 may be associatedwith a price adjustment 750 and a product identifier 730. In the lattercase, and depending upon the particular embodiment, a customer mustindicate an interest in, indicate an intent to purchase, or actuallypurchase each of the more than one required product(s) 760 in order toreceive the associated price adjustment 750.

In one example illustrated in FIG. 7, a customer identified by thecustomer identifier 720 C-2532 is required to purchase the requiredproduct 760 P-10596 in order to receive a price adjustment 750associated with the product identifier 730 P-96832, and is furtherrequired to purchase the required product 760 P-96832 in order toreceive the price adjustment 750 associated with the product identifier730 P-12457. It should be understood that any number of products may besimilarly interrelated.

In one embodiment, the transaction database 700 is stored in the storagedevice 260 of the customer device 200. According to this embodiment, thetransaction database 700 may be populated by the retailer controller 100while a customer shops for products in a retail store and transmitted tothe customer device 200 prior to checkout, or may be created andpopulated by the customer device 200 entirely. In either case, thetransaction database 700 may be transmitted from the customer device 202to the POS terminal 302 via the customer input/output device 370 priorto checkout. Population and usage of the transaction database 700 willbe described in detail below.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of process steps 800 according to one embodimentof the present invention. In a case that the retailer controller 100performs the process steps 800, the process steps 800 may be embodied inhardware within the retailer controller 100, in processor-executableprocess steps stored on a computer-readable medium such as the datastorage device 160 and executed by the processor 110, inprocessor-executable process steps encoded in electronic signal receivedby the retailer controller 100 and executed by the processor 110, or inany combination thereof. It should be noted that the process steps 800may be, wholly or in part, stored in and/or executed by the processor210 of the customer device 200 or the processor 310 of the POS terminal300.

Briefly, the FIG. 8 process steps include reception of an indicationfrom the customer of an interest in a first product, reception of anindication from the customer of an interest in a second product,determination of a price adjustment for the second product based on theindication of interest in the first product, and transmission of theprice adjustment to the customer.

Initially, in step S810, an indication of interest in a first product isreceived from a customer. It should be noted that also received in stepS810 may be an indication of interest in one or more other products, inwhich case the process steps 800 may be affected as noted below.

An indication of interest in a product may be received in many ways inaccordance with the present invention. For example, in an embodiment inwhich the customer is physically present in a retail store, theindication of interest is received when a customer uses a customerdevice, such as an in-store kiosk, a PDA or other handheld device incommunication with the retailer controller 100 via the World Wide Web oranother type of network, to locate and request information regarding afirst product. An indication of interest may also be received once thecustomer uses a customer device to indicate an intent to purchase thefirst product by adding the first product to a real or virtual “shoppingcart”. An indication of interest may be received in step S810 as aresult of the customer simply entering the retail store, approaching acustomer service counter, registering to receive price adjustments, oraccepting a handheld device offered by the retail store. The customermay use such a handheld device to scan a product bar code on a firstproduct, in which case a UPC extracted from the bar code and transmittedto the retail controller 100 is received in step S810 as an indicationof interest in the first product. The retail store may track acustomer's location within the store and receive an indication ofinterest in a first product if the customer approaches the first productor it is determined that the customer is located near to the firstproduct for a specified amount of time, thereby suggesting that thecustomer is evaluating the first product. Additionally, the indicationof interest received in step S810 may include a commitment by thecustomer to purchase the first product.

In an online embodiment of step S810, a customer's initial request toaccess a home page of a website operated by a retailer or an indicationthat a web page including a representation of the product has beenviewed for a particular period of time may each be considered anindication of interest in a first product. Also, selection of a pictureor a description of a product displayed on a web page of the website,addition of the product into a virtual shopping cart, or an indicationof a desire to purchase the first product may each be consideredreceived indications of interest in the first product in step S810.Further details of one online embodiment are described below withrespect to FIG. 10 through FIG. 13.

An indication of customer interest may be received from a party otherthan a customer. For example, an online ad-tracking service such asDoubleclick™, friends of the customer, or an entity storing informationregarding the customer's tastes, needs or desires may provide a retailerwith an indication of customer interest received in step S810. Inaddition, information relating to a previous purchase of a product bythe customer or by the customer's friends may be received in step S810as an indication of an interest in the same or a different product.

In a case that the first product is an initial product in which anindication of interest is received, the retailer controller 100 or thecustomer device 200 may create a record of the transaction database 700in step S810 which corresponds to a new transaction. Accordingly, atransaction identifier 710 identifying the new transaction is assignedto the record, as is a customer identifier 720 identifying the customer.Of course, a record of the transaction database 700 corresponding to anew transaction may be created when a customer enters a retail store,receives a customer device 200 from a retailer, accesses a retailerwebsite, registers at a kiosk in a retail store, or at other appropriatetimes. Included in the record may be a product identifier 730corresponding to the first product, as shown with respect to the productidentifier 730 P-55667 in FIG. 7.

Following step S810, an indication of an interest in a second product isreceived from the customer in step S820. In one embodiment, a message istransmitted to the customer such as “Keep shopping for more discounts!”after step S810 in order to encourage the customer to indicate aninterest in a second product. Such an indication may consist of any ofthe activities described above with respect to step S810. Moreover, theindication may be received based on a determination of an associationbetween the first product and a second product or based on a pre-storedassociation between the first product and the second product.

Several methods for determining a second product based on an indicationof interest in a first product are described in U.S. patent applicationSer. Nos. 09/085,424 and 09/360,422. In one method described in Ser. No.09/085,424, a second product is determined based on a first product andon revenue management-related data, such as relative profit margins,inventory, demand and whether or not the products are complementary innature. An indication may also be received in step S820 based on storedinformation indicating that the customer previously indicated aninterest in the second product, or based on a customer profileindicating the customer's likes, dislikes, hobbies, occupation, gender,income range or other information.

Next, in step S830, a price adjustment for the second product isdetermined based on the indication of interest in the first product. Aspecific embodiment for determining a price adjustment according to stepS830 is described below with respect to FIG. 9. Generally, the priceadjustment may be determined in step S830 based on the retail price ofthe second product, a retail profit margin of the first product, aretail profit margin of the second product, revenue managementinformation as described above, a likelihood that the customer willactually purchase the first product, and/or a customer rating 550. Theprice adjustment may also be determined based on a price sensitivity ofthe customer, which may be determined based on whether the first productis a “high-end” or a “low-end” product. In one embodiment, the priceadjustment is determined based on an indication of interest in one ormore additional products which may be stored in the customer database500.

In another embodiment, a price adjustment is determined in step S830based on respective retail prices of several products selected by acustomer for purchase, and based on any price adjustments alreadydetermined for the several products. In this regard, analready-determined price adjustment may be considered in the step S830determination only if included among the several products are otherproducts which a customer is required to purchase in order to receivethe already-determined price adjustment.

In one embodiment of step S830, a determined price adjustment associatedwith a given product is compared with a minimum sale price 660 alsoassociated with the given product to ensure that a sale price accordingto the price adjustment is not less than the minimum sale price 660. Ifso, the price adjustment is redetermined. It should be noted that priceadjustments according to the invention may include other constraints,such as non-transferability, expiration dates/times, and required futurecommitments (e.g. subscriptions or other purchases).

According to certain embodiments, the transaction database 700 ispopulated with transaction information in step S830. Specifically,associated in the transaction database 700 are a product identifier 730identifying the second product, a retail price 740 of the second productwhich may be determined from the product database 600, the determinedprice adjustment 750 for the second product, and, as required product(s)760, a product identifier of the first product. If the determination ofthe price adjustment 750 was based on more than one product, more thanone required product(s) 760 may be associated with the price adjustment750.

After the price adjustment is determined in step S830, flow proceeds tostep S840. In step S840, the price adjustment is transmitted to thecustomer. As mentioned above, in one embodiment, also transmitted to thecustomer in step S840 is an indication that the second product will besold in accordance with the price adjustment only if the first productis purchased. Although in some embodiments the price adjustment istransmitted to the customer in step S840 using a same communicationmethod as used to receive the indications of step S810 and step S820,the price adjustment may be transmitted in step S840 using othersystems. In one example, an indication of interest in a second productis received by customer selection of a hyperlink displayed by a webbrowser and describing the second product. In response, a web page iscreated to include the price adjustment and the created web page is sentto the web browser. In another embodiment, the price adjustment istransmitted to the customer after the customer has indicated a desire topurchase the second product, thereby providing a pleasant surprise tothe customer.

Also transmitted in one embodiment of step S840 is a retail price of thesecond product, which may be determined by reference to the productdatabase 600. Transmission of the retail price along with the priceadjustment may provide additional enticement to the customer to purchasethe second product because the transmission may assist the customer inappreciating a discount reflected in the price adjustment.

In some embodiments, flow returns from step S840 to step S820 to receivean indication of interest in another product. Accordingly, a subsequentdetermination of a price adjustment in step S830 may be based on theindication of interest in the another product, on the indication ofinterest in the first product, on the indication of interest in thesecond product, or on any combination thereof.

By virtue of the process steps 800, a customer is presented with anopportunity to receive a price adjustment for a product in which he isinterested. Therefore, the customer may be incented to purchase theproduct in a case where he would not otherwise purchase the product.Moreover, the retailer is willing to provide a price adjustment for theproduct which would otherwise not be provided because of the indicatedinterest in another product, which suggests that the retailer mayreceive a profit from a sale of the another product.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of process steps 900 according to one embodimentof step S830 of the process steps 800. Accordingly, the process steps900 are used in one embodiment to determine a price adjustment for asecond product based on an indication of interest in a first product.

Flow begins at step S910, in which information is retrieved relating tothe first product in which an indication of interest was received instep S810. Such information may be retrieved in step S910 by using aproduct identifier corresponding to the first product to locate acorresponding record in the product database 600. According to theexample described by the process steps 900, the information retrieved instep S910 includes a retail price 630 and an associated cost 640. Ofcourse, other information relating to the first product may be retrievedin step S910.

Next, in step S920, a retail profit margin of the first product isdetermined. In one embodiment, the retail profit margin is determined bysubtracting the retrieved cost 640 from the associated retail price 630.Information is then retrieved in step S930 related to the second productin which interest was indicated in step S820. The information retrievedin step S930 may be the same information retrieved in step S910, albeitwith respect to the second product, or may be different information. Inthe present example, the information is retrieved in step S930 bylocating a record in the product database 600 including a productidentifier 610 identical to the product identifier of the second productand by retrieving a retail price 630 and a cost 640 associated with therecord. Accordingly, in step S940, a retail profit margin of the secondproduct is determined by subtracting the cost 640 retrieved in step S930from the retail price 630 retrieved in step S930.

A discount is determined in step S950 based on the margins determined instep S920 and step S940. In one embodiment, the discount is determinedin step S950 by adding the two determined margins to determine a totalretail profit margin of the first product and the second product. Thetotal is multiplied by a discount factor, such as 10%, to determine thediscount. The discount factor may vary depending upon the identities ofthe first product and the second product. For example, a smallerdiscount amount may be used if the first product and the second productare popular products than if the products are relatively unpopular.

For the sake of clarity, the following is a description of the foregoingexample of step S950 using data illustrated in the above-describeddatabases. Assuming that the first product is identified by the productidentifier 610 P-10596 and the second product is identified by theproduct identifier 610 P-96832, the retail profit margins determined instep S920 and step S940 are $300 and $120, respectively. Adding thesetwo margins results in a total retail profit margin of $420, andmultiplying this total retail profit margin by a 10% discount factorresults in a discount of $42.

A price adjustment is determined in step S960. In one embodiment, theprice adjustment is equal to the discount determined in step S950. Thatis, according to the foregoing example, the price adjustment for thesecond product would be equal to “$42 off”. Of course, the priceadjustment may be determined as a percentage discount value or a saleprice based on the determined discount. Referring again to the previousexample, thusly-determined price adjustments would be ($42/$200)=“21%off” and $158, respectively.

A price adjustment for a second product may be determined based solelyon the retail profit margin of the second product. In such anembodiment, the retail profit margin is determined and a discount isdetermined by multiplying the determined margin by a percentagediscount. Again, the price adjustment may be equal to the discount, apercentage discount value or a sale price as described above.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating process steps 1000 performed by acustomer device 200 according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. The process steps 1000 may be embodied inprocessor-executable form and executed by the processor 210 of thecustomer device 200 solely or in combination with other devices.

The process steps 1000 begin at step S1010, in which a first product isselected. Selection of a first product in step S1010 may proceed usingany of the scenarios described above with respect to reception of anindication of interest in a first product in step S810 of the processsteps 800. FIG. 11 is a view of the display 240 of the customer device200 for use in describing one embodiment of step S1010. Shown in FIG. 11is a web page 1100 transmitted from the retailer controller 100 to thecustomer device 200 and displayed on the display 240 of the customerdevice 200 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.The web page 1100 was transmitted to the customer device 200 in responseto operation of the web browser 262 to access a website maintained by aweb server of the retailer controller 100 and to request the web page1100 therefrom.

Web page 1100 includes a list of hyperlinks 1110 corresponding tovarious products. In particular, the hyperlink 1120 corresponds to aproduct described as “D-Brand 400 MHz Pentium III computer system”.According to the present example, a customer operates the customerdevice 200 so as to select the hyperlink 1120 in step S1010.

In step S1020, a retail price of the first product selected in stepS1010 is received. FIG. 12 illustrates one embodiment of step S1020.Shown in FIG. 12 is a web page 1200 transmitted to the customer device200 in response to selection of the hyperlink 1120. The web page 1200includes a product description 1202 and a product identifier 1204, eachof which may be retrieved from a corresponding record in the productdatabase 600, as well a product view 1206 and a detailed productdescription 1208. As described with respect to step S1020, the web page1200 also includes a retail price 1210 of the selected product. Again,the retail price 1210 may be retrieved from the retail price field 630of the product database 600.

In step S1030, a desire to purchase the first product is indicated. Onemethod for indicating such a desire in S1030 includes selection of the“add to cart” icon 1212 of the web page 1200. As described above,selection of the first product may be considered in some embodiments asan indication of a desire to purchase the first product.

A second product is selected in step S1040. For example, returning toFIG. 11, the hyperlink 1130 corresponding to a product described as“L-Brand inkjet printer” may be selected as a second product in stepS1040. Next, in step S1050, a price adjustment for the second product isreceived based on the indication of the desire to purchase the firstproduct. A web page 1300 is shown in FIG. 13 for illustrating stepS1050. As shown therein, the web page 1300 as displayed on the display240 includes a product description 1302, a product identifier 1304 and aretail price 1306 identical to, respectively, a product description 620,a product identifier 610 and a retail price 630, respectively,associated with the selected product. Also received with the web page1300 is a price adjustment 1308. In the illustrated embodiment, thereceived price adjustment 1308 is a sale price.

Also shown in FIG. 13 is an indication 1310 that the second product willbe sold for a price in accordance with the price adjustment 1308 if thefirst product is purchased. As described above, such a feature assures aretailer that the sale price of the second product will not be affectedby the price adjustment unless the first product is purchased (and theretail profit margin of the first product is received). As a result, theretailer may be more willing to offer a significant price adjustment forthe second product. In other embodiments, a second product is soldaccording to a price adjustment simply by virtue of receipt by theretailer controller 100 of an indication from a customer of interest inthe first product, or simply by virtue of receipt from a customer of anindication of an intent to purchase the first product. As describedabove, these various embodiments provide different amounts of incentivefor a retailer to offer a price adjustment and to determine the extentof an offered price adjustment.

FIG. 14 shows a flow chart of process steps 1400 to sell products inaccordance with price adjustments according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. The process steps 1400 may be embodied inprocessor-executable process steps of the POS program 381 and executedby the processor 310 of the POS terminal 300. The process steps 1400 mayalso be embodied in the program 400 stored in the retailer controller100 or in the program 261 of the customer device 200.

Flow begins at step S1402, in which a customer identifier is received.In one embodiment of step S1402, a customer arrives at a POS terminal300 of a retail store with several desired products, intending to payfor the products and thereafter to leave the retail store with theproducts. At the POS terminal 300, the customer input/output device 370displays a message to the customer instructing the customer to swipe herpreferred customer card through a magnetic card reader provided with thedevice 370. The card reader reads a magnetic strip located on the cardin order to receive the customer identifier in step S1402.Alternatively, the customer may swipe a credit or debit card through themagnetic card reader, which retrieves account information from the cardand uses the account information in conjunction with the customerdatabase 500 to locate an associated customer identifier 510. The latterarrangement allows the customer to complete a purchase using only onecard.

In another embodiment of step S1402, the customer device 202 transmitsprice adjustment information such as that shown in FIG. 7 to the POSterminal 302 through the customer input/output device 370. The customeridentifier 720 is then retrieved therefrom.

Next, in step S1404, it is determined whether price adjustmentinformation is associated with the received customer identifier. In oneembodiment, the transaction database 700 is examined to determinewhether it includes price adjustment information associated with acustomer identifier 720 identical to the received customer identifier.In this regard, a transaction identifier may be received in step S1402and the transaction database may be examined in step S1404 to determinewhether it includes price adjustment information associated with atransaction identifier 710 identical to the received transactionidentifier.

If no associated price adjustment information is located, flow continuesto step S1406, wherein a product identifier of each desired product isdetermined using the bar code scanner 330, a retail price of eachproduct is determined by locating a retail price 630 associated with theproduct identifier, the customer is charged for the associated retailprices, a receipt is printed using the printer 360, and the customerdeparts the retail store with the desired products.

If it is determined in step S1404 that price adjustment information isassociated with the received customer identifier, the price adjustmentinformation is retrieved in step S1408. Specifically, records having anassociated customer identifier 720 identical to the customer identifierreceived in step S1402 are copied from the transaction database 700 tothe storage device 380 for fast access to the data therein. Step S1404and step S1408 may be skipped over in a case that the price adjustmentinformation shown in FIG. 7 is transmitted directly from the customerdevice 200 to the POS terminal 300.

Next, in step S1410, product identifiers of all desired products arereceived. In one embodiment, the product identifiers are received byscanning a product bar code corresponding to each product, which islocated either on the product or on the product's packaging. Once theproduct identifiers are received, it is determined in step S1412 whetherone of the received product identifiers is represented in the retrievedprice adjustment information. More particularly, it is determinedwhether a first one of the received product identifiers is a productidentifier 730 listed in one of the records retrieved in step S1408. Ifso, it is determined in step S1414 whether product identifiers listed inthe retrieved price adjustment information as required product(s) 760were received in step S1410. Step S1414 therefore is intended to confirmthat the customer is purchasing those products that are required inorder for the customer to obtain a sale price in accordance with a priceadjustment. In this regard, in a case that a product identifier 730 isassociated with more than one price adjustment 750 and/or sets ofrequired product(s) 760, either of the sets of required product(s) 760may be received in step S1410 to result in a positive determination instep S1414.

A sale price corresponding to the received product identifier isdetermined in step S1416. For example, a price adjustment 750 isidentified which is associated with the required product(s) 760 deemedto have been received in step S1414. If the price adjustment 750 isitself a sale price, the sale price determined in step S1416 is equal tothe price adjustment 750. If, on the other hand, the price adjustment750 is a percentage discount value or a price discount value, the saleprice is determined in step S1416 by applying the discount value to theassociated retail price 740.

In a case that a product identifier 730 is associated with more than oneprice adjustment 750 and/or sets of required product(s) 760, step S1416presents several options. For example, the product identifier 730P-55667 of the transaction database 700 is associated with two priceadjustments 750, each of which is associated with a different requiredproduct 760. If each required product 760 is being purchased, the saleprice determined in step S1416 may be based on both associated priceadjustments 750 ($4.50 off a retail price), on a greater of the twoprice adjustments 750 ($4.00 off a retail price), on a lesser of the twoprice adjustments 750 ($0.50 off a retail price), or based on which ofthe two required products 760 were scanned first in step S1410.

The determined sale price is added to the customer's bill in step S1418.It is then determined in step S1420 if any product identifiers receivedin step S1410 have not been analyzed. If so, flow returns to step S1412to determine if a next one of the received product identifiers isrepresented in the retrieved price adjustment information.

Returning to step S1412, if it is determined that the product identifieris not represented in the received information, the retail price 740associated with the product identifier in the transaction database 700is determined and the retail price is added to the customer's bill instep S1422. Flow continues from step S1422 to step S1420 and proceeds aspreviously described.

If it is determined in step S1420 that no received product identifiersremain to be analyzed, flow continues to step S1424 wherein the customeris charged the total billed amount. The amount may be charged to thecustomer using the payment identifier 540 associated with the customeridentifier received in step S1402, or using other known means.

Although the process steps 1400 are described above with respect to atraditional checkout process within a retail store, it should beunderstood that the process steps 1400 are also applicable to the saleof products in an online environment, with or without variation.

The following are several examples of additional embodiments of thepresent invention. These examples do not constitute a definition of allpossible embodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand thatthe present invention is amenable to many other embodiments. Thoseskilled in the art will understand how to make any changes, ifnecessary, to the above-described system to accommodate these and otherembodiments and applications.

In one embodiment, a customer is presented with several priceadjustments for a first product, each of the price adjustmentsassociated with a respective different product. According to such anembodiment, the customer may purchase the first product for a sale pricein accordance with a price adjustment if the customer also purchases adifferent product associated with the particular price adjustment. Forexample, transmitted to a customer may be a price adjustment of $200 fora stereo system and a price adjustment of $175 for the same stereosystem. The $200 price adjustment may be associated with a cordlessphone and the $175 price adjustment may be associated with a 25 inchcolor television. This information may be transmitted to the customer inresponse to an indication from the customer of an interest in the firstproduct or without any customer input. Moreover, different associatedproducts and price adjustments may be determined using any of themethods described above.

In another embodiment, a customer may purchase a second product for asale price according to a price adjustment if the customer or any othercustomer associated with the customer in a buying group (same household,company, club, etc.) purchases a first product required for the priceadjustment.

The customer may not be required to purchase all required product(s) 760at a same time in order to receive an associated price adjustment. Forexample, the customer may receive a price adjustment simply bycommitting to purchase the required product(s) 760 at a later date.

In order to indicate an interest in a product, to indicate an intent topurchase a product, or to request a purchase of a product, a customermay swipe an appropriate card bearing a magnetic strip through a cardreading device located near the point of display of the product. Aproduct identifier corresponding to the product and a customeridentifier read from the magnetic strip are then associated in thestorage device 160 of the retailer controller 100. Accordingly, aproduct identifier corresponding to each subsequently-selected productis also associated with the customer identifier in the data storagedevice 160. In this regard, each product may be assigned a separate cardreading device designed to transmit to the retailer controller 100 onlya product identifier corresponding to a single associated product, orthe card reading device may have an additional input device which thecustomer uses to input a product identifier corresponding to a selectedproduct or to input other information using which the product identifiermay be determined.

As described above, price adjustment information for a transaction suchas that shown in FIG. 7 may be stored in the customer device 202. In oneembodiment, the customer device 202 may use the information to allow acustomer to check out without interaction with the POS terminal 302. Inthis regard, it is assumed that each product with which the customerattempts to check out is represented in the price adjustmentinformation. Accordingly, it may be determined whether requiredproduct(s) 760 associated with a price adjustment 750 are beingpurchased by reference to the listed product identifiers 730. A retailermay conduct random receipt audits at a retail store exit to ensure thatthe customer does not remove products other than those identified by theproduct identifiers 730.

In some embodiments, a total billed amount for certain products candiffer depending solely on an order in which the certain products areselected by a customer. In other embodiments, price adjustments aredetermined so that a total amount billed does not depend upon an orderof selection.

In an embodiment where a customer places products into a real or virtualshopping cart, the customer may be presented with a sale price for eachproduct in the shopping cart or a total sale price of all products inthe shopping cart. A sale price of a product in the shopping cart isdetermined based on a price adjustment associated with the product ifall products required for the price adjustment are also in the shoppingcart. As a result, removal of a product from the shopping cart causes asale price of the product to be removed from a list of sale pricespresented to the customer or deducted from a total sale price presentedto the customer. However, if the removed product is a required productassociated with price adjustments for other products in the shoppingcart, the removal may also result in an increase in sale prices listedfor the other products and/or an increase in the total sale price.

In an example of the foregoing embodiment, a customer places a computersystem having a retail price of $1000.00 into his shopping cart. Next,the customer indicates an interest in an inkjet printer by requestinginformation regarding the printer. In response, the customer is informedthat a retail price of the printer is $200.00 and that he will receive a50% discount off the retail price if the printer is purchased along withall other products currently in the shopping cart. The customer thenplaces the printer in the shopping cart, and is presented with a totalsale price of $1000.00+50%($200.00)=$1100.00. The customer may also orotherwise be presented with a list of sale prices for products in theshopping cart, the list including $1000.00 and $100.00. The customerthen indicates an interest in a television and is informed that a retailprice of $400.00 will be discounted to $350.00 if the television ispurchased along with the printer. Once the television is added to theshopping cart, the customer is presented with a total sale price of$1100.00+$350.00=$1450.00 and/or a list including $1000.00, $100.00, and$350.00. If the customer then removes the computer system from theshopping cart, the customer is presented with a total sale price of$200.00+$350.00=$550.00, and/or a list of sale prices including $200.00and $350.00. Specifically, removal of the computer system causes anincrease in a sale price of the printer because the computer system is arequired product associated with a price adjustment for the printer. Onthe other hand, removal of the computer system does not cause anincrease in a sale price of the television because the computer systemis not a required product associated with a price adjustment for thetelevision.

Although the present invention has been described with respect toparticular embodiments, those skilled in the art will note that varioussubstitutions and modifications may be made to those embodiments withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for selling products, the systemcomprising: a processing device; and a memory device in communicationwith the processing device, the memory device storing instructions thatwhen executed by the processing device result in: receiving anindication of interest of a customer in a first product; receiving anindication of interest of the customer in a second product, in which theindication of interest in the second product comprises at least one of:an indication that the customer is located in a retail store, physicallynear to the second product in the retail store, an indication that thecustomer has viewed a representation of the second product for a periodof time, and a selection by the customer of the second product;determining a price adjustment for the second product based on theindication of interest of the customer in the first product; afterreceiving the indication of interest of the customer in the firstproduct, after receiving the indication of interest of the customer inthe second product, and before receiving from the customer a request topurchase the second product, transmitting the price adjustment to thecustomer; receiving, from the customer, a request to purchase the firstproduct and the second product; and charging the customer for the secondproduct based on the price adjustment.
 2. A system for selling products,the system comprising: a kiosk device in a retail store; and a memorydevice in communication with the kiosk device in the retail store, thememory device storing instructions that when executed by the kioskdevice in the retail store device result in: receiving an indication ofinterest of a customer in a first product; receiving an indication of arequest by the customer for information regarding a second product, inwhich the request for information identifies the second product;determining a price adjustment for the second product based on theindication of interest of the customer in the first product; afterreceiving indication of interest of the customer in the first product,after receiving the indication of the request by the customer forinformation regarding the second product, and before receiving from thecustomer a request to purchase the second product, displaying the priceadjustment to the customer at the kiosk; receiving, from the customer arequest to purchase the first product and the second product; andcharging the customer for the second product based on the priceadjustment.
 3. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storinginstructions that when executed by a processing device result in:offering a handheld device to a customer at a retail store; receiving bythe handheld device an indication of interest of the customer in a firstproduct in the retail store; receiving by the handheld device anindication of interest of the customer in a second product in the retailstore, in which the indication of interest in the second productcomprises one or more of the following: a request for informationregarding the second product, in which the request identifies the secondproduct, the customer scanning a bar code that is associated with thesecond product, an indication that the customer is evaluating the secondproduct in the retail store, an indication that the customer isphysically near the second product in the retail store, and anindication that the customer is physically near the second product inthe retail store for a predetermined amount of time; determining by aprocessing device in communication with the handheld device, a priceadjustment for the second product based on the indication of interest ofthe customer in the first product; displaying, by at least one of theprocessing device and the handheld device, the price adjustment to thecustomer; receiving, by the handheld device and from the customer arequest to purchase the first product and the second product; andcharging, by at least one of the processing device and the handhelddevice, the customer for the second product based on the priceadjustment.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3,in which the displaying comprises: displaying the price adjustment tothe customer via the handheld device.
 5. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 3, in which the displaying comprises:displaying the price adjustment to the customer at a point-of-saleterminal in the retail store.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 3, in which the handheld device comprises a personaldigital assistant.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 3, in which the handheld device comprises a bar-code scanner. 8.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, in which theindication of interest in the first product comprises the customeraccepting the handheld device at the retail store.
 9. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 3, in which the indication of interestin the first product comprises the customer scanning a bar code that isassociated with the first product.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 3, in which the indication of interestin the first product comprises an indication of a location of thecustomer in the retail store.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 3, in which the indication of interest in the firstproduct comprises an indication that the customer is evaluating thefirst product in the retail store.
 12. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 3, in which the indication of interestin the first product comprises an indication that the customer isphysically near the first product in the retail store.
 13. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, in which theindication of interest in the first product comprises an indication thatthe customer is physically near the first product in the retail storefor a predetermined amount of time.